Rebirth
by NekoDae
Summary: Jack dies and Aster is distraught.
1. Rebirth

**A little one shot of awkward angst. Enjoy.**

**I don't own Rise of the Guardians **

* * *

It had been so were all fighting their own battles, separate but still within reach if another Guardians needed aid, when Pitch had shown up.  
Before that it had just been his nightmares, they were weak but huge in number and were used mainly to tire the guardians out. Then came the Fearlings, large, brutish monsters that posed a little more of a problem for the guardians but not by much.  
When Pitch arrived he began attacking the youngest of the guardians first. He faced Jack, armed with a scythe of nightmare sand that would occasionally morph into other weapons depending on its masters wishes.

It was only after the battle was finished that they realized that, while pitch had been defeated, Jack was nowhere in sight. Though they were wounded the guardians spread out to search for the missing frost sprite, coming running at Bunny's cry of pain.  
Bowling into the little clearing, not that it really could be called that as it was not really any bigger than a gap between five trees, the guardians rushed in expecting an attack only to come to a halt at the sight that lay before them.

Bunny was sitting on the frost-covered ground, resting against a tree and cradling the body of Jack frost in his arms. Only Jack looked different, one side of his neck and face was covered with dark vines which disappeared under the hem of his jacket hoodie. He had been covered in a multitude of cuts and scratches and dark skin was visible through the cuts in his clothing.  
Bunny was nuzzling into the crook of Jack's neck, snuffling softly as he searched for a pulse and letting out a high keen when he didn't find one. His ears were tight against his head and for the longest time he had simply sat there, cradling the prone form close and letting out threatening growls at any who dared come close to the body of his precious Frostbite.

It had been a little known fact that Pooka heard a song in their souls that would one day lead them to their mate.  
The song was part of them, always at the edge of their conscious and threading through every dream. Jack had been his song mate, that had been shown months after the first defeat of Pitch when Aster had caught Jack singing in the shower at Santoff Clausen and the song had resonated so deeply within him despite the horrid off-tones that plagued the piece.  
It had been like magic for Aster, having a mate again. This time a mate that he could share his heart-song with, which was something that couldn't be done with someone he wasn't soul bonded with, such as with his Pooka mate that had died so many centuries before.

Aster was grateful that he had gotten to share a few last sweet words with Jack before the spirit died, the cry of pain ripped from his throat a moment later full of anguish and loathing towards Pitch, who had now taken two of his mates from him. It wasn't fair.  
Eventually Aster was coaxed away from that shady spot, still cradling Jacks limp body close as he was guided through the portal to Santoff Clausen. They had a funeral to plan.

Aster looked broken. He was, losing a second mate had been hard on him and it was even harder knowing that his mate was also a fellow guardian.  
He couldn't even attend the funeral, he broke down at the mere thought of his Jackie's body being lowered into the ground and covered over. He knew that the tunnels of his warren would never be filled with the ringing laughter of Jacks laughter or the cold winds that followed the winter spirit wherever he flew. If a spirit died they were reborn again, given a chance at a life they were denied by becoming a spirit, but they almost always died without regaining their spirit power.

* * *

It took Aster three years to come out of the warren for anything other than Easter. Even then he didn't really talk with any of the other guardians unless it was necessary, though he did call on Sandy more often than the others, sounding desperate as he begged the Dreamweaver for a dreamless sleep so that he wouldn't wake reaching for a form that was never going to be there.  
he was being driven mad and he needed a good sleep to keep himself sane.

After a decade, Aster had calmed a little. His once vibrant eyes were dull and had little of the fiery spark that had drawn jack to him and had been ignited many, many times by the frosty spirits sass. He still seemed tired, slightly hunched and while he was still able to move impossibly fast he seemed worrying lethargic.  
It reminded North of those first few centuries after Pitch had committed genocide on Asters race. That was worrying.

It was another ten years before anything happened.

Aster looked ragged, more tired than he had in years but there was an almost manic gleam in his eye as he made his way toward Santoff Clausen with more energy than he had been able to muster since Jacks funeral.  
He burst through the front door of Santoff Clausen, starting the yeti that was at the door and making the large fur ball stumble back. All Aster heard was an indignant yell as he streaked past, nothing more than a blur as he moved through the workshop towards North's personal workshop.

Slamming the door open, the heavy door bouncing off the walls with a echoing thunk but not getting far due to the large paw keeping it in place, Aster stood in the doorway panting and looking at the startled North from under rather unkempt fur "I can feel it"  
"What are you talking of, my friend?" North stood, making his way over to the pooka, who he could see was faintly shaking. Aster looked up at him with a smirk, an echo of the smirks that lifted his lips when Jack was still with them. he paused, straightening up and regarding North for a moment before speaking so quietly North thought he was hearing things.

"The heart-song, I can feel it. Jack's been reborn"


	2. Reborn Again

**Thanks for all the reviews. It was really great to see everyone liking the story so much, if not the cliffhanger I ended it on.**

**There will be no chapters after this, it wasn't even meant to be a two-shot and I hadn't even planned for a second chapter so I hope you enjoy it.**

**I don't own Rise of the Guardians. It's probably better that way lol.**

* * *

Twenty-three years. He had waited twenty-three years for his Snowflake to be reborn and even now he couldn't bring himself to go see the tyke.

Everyone had been invited to see the little boy, Jamie's son looked a lot like him it seemed, and all the others had gone. He had been missed though, and it seemed that none of the other guardians had the heart to tell Jamie why neither Jack nor Aster had come to meet his son. That was a conversation none of them wanted to have.

As the years went on, Aster waited and watched from afar.

* * *

Jackson Bennett grew fast.

His father had fostered a belief in him like no other and he spent most of his time outdoors with his little sister Pippa, named after his father's friend who had died in a car crash years before, whom he called pipsqueak in the affectionately teasing tone used by brothers and sisters the world over.

Jack had been brought up on fairy stories like nothing before, his father having made a good amount of money publishing stories of his adventures with the guardians. These stories always seemed filled with action and danger, as well as more intensity than was probably healthy. Jack had been told of North, an old pirate turned gift giver who fought with two swords and had a thick Russian accent, Sandy, a smaller man who never said anything but had a heart of gold and an appearance to match, Tooth, a hyperactive woman who was part hummingbird and guarded the memories of every person on the planet, Jack, a young spirit who was filled with pranks and fun and could make the best snowballs ever, and Bunny, a 6-foot-something, boomerang and explosives wielding rabbit with an Australian accent, and had grown up with the adventures that the guardians had been through. And, of course, the guardians themselves had shown up on various occasions to cement the beliefs into his very soul.

Whenever he lost a tooth in one of his insane stunts he made sure to put it under his pillow so that Tooth could come to collect it, he was reminded to brush properly and floss so that she wouldn't get upset with him. He was also reminded that, even though he could do insane things, he had to be a relatively good boy so that Santa would give him presents on Christmas rather than coal. He occasionally stayed up to watch the golden threads of dream sand winding through the houses and in through open windows, though he was usually knocked out by the golden grains soon after.

There were two spirits that he never saw, no matter how hard he tried.

He started snowball fight after snowball fight in order to try and catch a glimpse of the mysteriously absent guardian of snowballs and fun times, only to have to try again when the frosty spirit never showed up, and he spent many an afternoon exploring the forests around Burgess to try and find a tunnel leading to the warren of the mysterious Easter Bunny.

By the time he was eighteen, Jack was fit and well-liked despite his tendency for pranking people and starting mass snowball wars. He was known as a good person, sure to help someone even though many said he was a hellion. He was fiercely protective of his sister, making a lot of the more lust-driven males back off of his younger sibling and making her one of the few girls not hounded by the majority of the boys in the town. It was almost enough to make Jack sick, seeing all but a few guys acting like lust-sick monkeys.

He was taking a walk through the forest, heading for the lake near the middle of what had become a gun-free zone, when he heard a commotion up ahead. And screaming.

The screaming spurred him into action, he had heard it enough times to know his sisters scream anywhere. Breaking through the ground-cover of ferns and shrubbery, Jack came to a halt when he saw the gun that had been pointed at his sister get pointed at him instead "Ah, Jackie-boy. Just the man I wanted to see" The grinning teen was someone from his school, one of the jocks that had moved to the town the year before if he remembered correctly ", Well don't just stand there like a pillock, come closer"

* * *

Aster growled to himself, settled in some nearby bushes as Jack walked out from the tree line. He watched as Jack moved between his sister and the gun-toting dill, the fur on the back of his neck raising as the gun was lifted to point at Jack's chest. He was getting antsy, he knew he couldn't handle losing the Snowy dill again but he didn't want to intrude and cause a problem for the teen so he was forced to simply sit and watch as Jack and the other man spoke.

It seemed to be about Jack's sister, the bloke with the gun wanted to date her and Jack was refusing. And rightly so, a sheila like that didn't deserve to date some gun-toting dickhead.

When the yelling began, Jack gave the signal for his sister to run.

The younger girl turned and fled, screaming when a single shot was heard. Thankfully she didn't turn back, she didn't need to see her brother collapsing into the snow or the victorious smirk on the other man's face as he left the brown-haired teen to bleed out into the snow. She did, however, hear the absolutely soul-crushing cry of pain and grief that echoed through the forests of Burgess and out into the streets of the town.

* * *

It was so cold.

It hurt so much.

He could feel the fluttering pulse of his heart as it tried to keep the blood flowing through his veins.

He could hear someone sobbing nearby but he didn't have the energy to see who it was.

He hoped his sister got away safely, that she would be safe without him.

He hoped his parents would be alright.

He had so many hopes that faded from his mind as his barely open eyes caught sight of the moon.

It was so big.

So beautiful.

He could almost hear it telling him to let it all go and sleep.

That sounded good.

Sleep sounded good; maybe Sandy would come to visit him.

He glowed softly under the moonlight, not that he knew of that. Or of anything at all, for that matter, as his heart had simply stopped. Manny seemed to glow brighter and brighter, illuminating the frost that was growing and spreading from the boy.

It began to snow sometime in the early hours, the pure flakes covering jack almost completely only to be disturbed when Aster made his way over to the covered form and scooped him up.

He cradled Jack close, holding him like he was the most precious thing in the world, and keened in grief. He began idly grooming his twice-dead mate, whose hair had gone back to it's previous white colour and his skin had become as white as fine porcelain.

He could feel himself breaking. He had finally lost it, his will to live and hope. There was nothing that could pull him out of the self-destructive spiral.

Nothing except that.

That tender touch and the sweet lilting song that played through his mind.

Asters eyes snapped open and he looked down at Jack, who was giving him a weak smile and softly carding his fingers through the fur of bunny's cheek. He let out a cry of surprise and curls around his Snowflake, trembling and cradling the frosty boy close, his warm tears soaking his fur and Jack's hair.

"I missed you too, Hop-A-Long" His voice was just like Aster remembered and he thought, he knew, that things would be okay now.


End file.
